The Italian Foreign Ministry on Tuesday confirmed reports on the kidnapping of an Italian aid worker in the Philippines.

The aid worker of Movimondo, an Italian non-governmental organization (NGO), was kidnapped earlier Tuesday by unidentified gunmen in southeastern Philippines, said an official of the ministry. He said the government was doing its utmost to rescue him.

The kidnappers have demanded a ransom of "a mere pittance", said an official of the Movimondo.

The Italian embassy in Manila has taken all necessary measures with local authorities to seek a positive solution to the affair, the Foreign Ministry said.

Andrea Cianferoni, an agricultural expert helping communities in combating poverty, was kidnapped on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao, center of an Islamist separatist revolt.

The Philippine government said the kidnappers may belong to an Islamist separatist group in Mindanao.